Alisha Karim, King's College London

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The dynamic nature of healthcare positions dentistry as an ever-evolving career stream. Universities gear students up to dive into a profession which will have developed dramatically in the four, five, or six years they have spent working towards registration. And in a time of seemingly exponential scientific, technological, and social change, the dental world we enter as students seems to be shifting beneath our feet.

Dentistry has washed away its brutalist barber surgeon past, and at the confluence of science, the arts, and dexterity, professionals have inherited their place alongside their medical counterparts. Moving through paternalism and business models to a patient-centred approach, it is undeniable that social themes have a great influence on trends in dental care. Cosmetic dentistry is the first to slowly seep from the safe bounds of our profession and into the realm of virality.

With aesthetically-driven treatment outside the scope of practice of NHS dentistry, burdens of body dysmorphia and media pressure opened the floodgates to high-risk, low-cost alternatives for patients. Regulated provisions of teeth whitening were the first compromised, a simultaneous target of illegal practice1 and do-it-yourself products: Amazon alone offers over 2000 products, starting at just £1.75. As technology developed, celebrity endorsements and social attitudes followed, as we entered the era of the dental 'makeover'. And so emerged explosive news articles and TikTok videos sharing the traumatic experiences of maximally destructive dental treatment - now a budget-friendly holiday add-on.2

Whilst advancements in technology are a testament to the evidence which dentistry relies upon, it is clear that patients have followed the torrent of updates in real time. Social media, the central driving force, also runs the progression of our profession. As a generation built around these platforms, it is no surprise that our online portfolios are a massive focus for the construction of our professional identities. But the networking benefits are accompanied by inflated patient expectations and monitoring, another slowly brewing aspect of litigation pressure in practice.

The private endeavour of cosmetic dentistry attracts and celebrates artistry within our workforce, addressing the psychological basis of our impact.

Ultimately, the most painstaking outcome of our cosmetic rebrand appears as the loss of needs-based, biological care in our perception by the patient population.

In reality, we are seeing the diversification of dentistry, and this is exactly what fulfils its niche. The recently updated Scope of Practice of dental hygiene therapists3 places emphasis on the effective delivery of biological, preventative care to a diverse patient profile. Continuous integration of the social sciences implements values-based, person-centred care to treat individual patients, not caricatures of social groups. The private endeavour of cosmetic dentistry attracts and celebrates artistry within our workforce, addressing the psychological basis of our impact.

The dental profession, in line with the true nature of healthcare, is an iceberg. It appears to the layperson as a trending news topic or scientific discovery, its floating form shaped by the interactions of laypeople and the media. Its surface exists within an echo chamber, with the rare interjection from a well-polished professional themselves. As dental students, we have the privilege of objectivity, exploring and critiquing a colossal research base which remains undetected by our patients. Considering the increasing social relevance of dentistry, we hold the power to become multi-disciplinary educators, and re-establish our role as holistic healthcare providers.